Follower-operating mechanism for hay presses



L. J. TOFFELMIER El AL FOLLOWER OPERATING MECHANISM FOR HAY PRESsES Filed May 192 INVENTOR,

dis M/LLEQ Maxis.

Patented Sept. 11, 1928.

UNITED STA FoRNIA, ASSIGNORS TO JUNIOR MONARGH H Y PRESS COMP NY, or s N LEAN- nno, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION 01 CALIFORNIA. T

FOLLOWER-OPERATING Mnon NIsM non HAY PRESSES.

Application filed May 18, 1926. Serial No, 109,832.

arms which extended outwardly and were connected at their upperends With opposite.

sides of the follower. vThe lower ends of these toggle arms were connected by chains to rotatable sheaves driven by the power plant of the press; When the follower was elevated in the chamber, the chains were wound on the sheaves, drawing the lower ends of the arms together which caused forceful elevation of the follower. Due to the leverage required, these toggle arms were quitelong and necessitated a considerable amount of clearance for the press to operate in. This made the press extremely long and prevented it from beingfoperated in small enclosures. Due to the fact that these arms must be moved in opposite directions certain complications resulted in the driving mechanism wherein frictional losses were great and severe strains placed on the press.

It is the principal object of the present invention to generally improve and simplify the construction and operation of hay presses by providing a single toggle armniechanism for operating the follower, thereby permitting the over all length of the presses to be reduced to a minimum, and likewise simplifying the driving mechanism of the press.

In carrying out this object wep'rovide apair of parallel downwardly inclined arms which are connected to the frame by parallel links which are inclined oppositely to the.

arms. The upper ends of the arms are connected to opposite ends of the follower. One of :the arms is formed with. a rigid extension which may be connected by a chain to a rotatable sheave'driven by the driving mechanisinf of the press. So that the arms may operate in'unison they are connectedby a connect ng rod which extends between the pivotal connections between the links and thearms.

One form which theinvent-ion may assume is exemplifiedin the following description and illustrated byway of example in theac- 1 companying drawings, in which: I

The figure is a view in lOllgltUdlIliLl'SGCtlOIl through the press disclosing the follower operating mechanism inlowered position in ground wheels (not shown) which support the press and permit it to betransported from place to place. Above the main frame members 10 are longitudinal frame members 11 likewise ofchannel iron andarranged upon opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the'press. In the presentinstance these sub-framemembers 11 arespaced further apart than the main frame memberslO.

Snpport'ed by the frame members 10 and 11 i'sa vertically disposed chamber 12 within which the hay is fed by the feeder mechanism.

As this latter mechanism'together with the res PA-TENT orrl c .E .1

LANCE J. vTOIE'IEELIWIIIEI R, OF SAN LEANDRO, AND CHARLES MILLER, OF OAKLAND, CALI-i wvhich in-the present instance are formed of I channel iron and are spaced apart upon opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the hay press. 'These frame members carry main operating parts of the press form no.

part of my present invention, it is not illustrated. I It will sufiice to saythat the chamber I i 12 is formed with. ends and sides, theends being formed of'vertically disposed channel bars 14, thatis to say, each end of the chamber is formed of two parallel and vertically disposed channel bars which are arranged upon opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the machine and spaced slightly apart to form vertical guideways in the ends of the chamber. Arranged w thin the chamber for vertica agreeing with those of the chamber. Dee

reciprocation thereinuis a follower 15 which pending downwardly from the center of the platform '16 0f the follower 15 is a longitudinal web 17 which is formed asarigid part of the follower. The ends 18 and 19 of the web '17 project through theguideways inthe.

ends of thechamber and are adaptedto 00- operate therewith-to guide the follower 15 in its vertical reciprocation within. the charm her-12. i 5 r To vertically reciprocate the follower. 15, we provide a main follower arm 20 which is pivotally connected at its upper and forward lend to theweb-l'? ofthe follower 15 at a point indicated at 21. The lower'and rear end of led and to which the chain is fastened so that I of vertically swinging toggle links 24 and 25.-

rotation of the sheave in one direction will draw the chain 22 forwardly and rotation 1n the other direction Wlll release the chain and permit it to be drawn rearwardly. The

sheave may be driven in synchronism with the other mechanisms of the press in any preferred manner.

The frame members 10 are fitted with pairs of bearings 23 which are spaced apart longit-udinally of the machine, one bearing of each pair being disposed upon opposite frames 10 in transverse alignment. These bearings 23' are connect-ed w1th the lower ends of pairs The links comprising the pair 24 are arranged in parallelism and conver e toward their upper ends and are pivotally connected to the main follower arm 20 at a point indicated by the numeral 26. This pivotalpoint of connection between the links 24 and the follower arm 20 occur substantially at the center of the follower arm 20.

The upper ends of the links 25 are connected to the rear end of a pair of arms 27, the forward ends of which are pivotally connected to the rear end of the follower as at 28. The length of the links 24 and 25 are equal and likewise the distance'between the centers of the arms 27 equals the distance between the points where the links 24 connect with the follower arm2O and the point where the follower arm connects with the web 17 of the follower 15.

So that the links 24 and 25 will operate in unison and create a toggle action, a connecting rod 29 is connected at its rear end to the pivotal point between the links 25 and the arms 27 and at its forward end to the pivotal point between the links 24 and the main follower arm 20. This connection provides a. point of support for the follower both at its forward and at its rear end so that the follower will be raised in a level position when a pull is exerted on the chain 22.

In operation of the device the follower mechanism cooperates with the feeder of the press so that when the feeder discharges hay into the chamber 12 the follower 15 moves vertically and presses the hay. To move the follower vertically the sheave is rotated and draws the chain 22 forwardly which exerts a pull on the lower end of the main follower arm 20. This pull simultaneously moves the upper end of the arm 20 upwardly and swin gs the toggle arms 24 and 25 upwardly and forwardly exerting an upward push on both ends of the follower, 15.

As the amount of movement of the arms 24 and 25 is equal due to the provision of the connecting rod 29, the forward and rear ends of thefollower 15 will'be moved upwardly in unison a uniform distance. When the follower has reached the upper end of its travel the chain 22 is released and the weight of the follower causes it to'lower to a position shown in full lines in the drawing.

To take up the rear thrust on the follower, its forward endis fitted with bearing wheels 30 which engage vertical tracks carried by the forward end of the chamber. 12.

In orderto level up the follower 15, the rear bearings 23 which carry the. arms 25 are longitudinally adjustable on the frame mem, bers 10. By adjusting these bearings 23 forwardly or rearwardly on the-frame-members 10, the rear end of the follower may be slight ly raised or lowered so as to render it perfectly level within the chamber.

By eliminating the necessity of having two arms to operate the follower, we have reduced the length of the press'to a minimum and likewise reduced the amount of floor space required within which to operate the press.

This will permit the press to be operatedlincomparatively small enclosures. Also we have simphfied the construction of the press due to the fact that but one driving chain is I J necessary for operating the follower.

lVhile we have shown the preferred form of our invention, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in its construe oppositely to said arms and connected at.

their lower ends to the frame of the press and connected at their upper ends to said arms, a connectlon between saidlinks whereby they will operate in unison, and an extension on one of sa1d arms which may be oscillated to vertically reciprocate the follower through the medium of sa1d arms and links, and means for adjusting the connection between the lower end of one of said links and the-frame of the press to permit leveling of the follower. v V

2. In a hay press having a vertically disposed chamber, a follower guided for vertical reciprocation therein, a downwardly inclined follower arm connectedat its upper end-to one end of the'follower, a connection at the lower end of said arm for oscillating it, a link inclined oppositely to the armand con:

nected at its lower end to the frame of the press and at itsvupper end to said arm at a 7 point intermediate the ends of the arm, a

second arm disposed parallel to the follower arm and connected at its upper end to the other end of the follower, a second link disposed parallel to the first named link and connected at its lower end to the frame and at its upper endto the second arm, a connecting rod extending between the connections be- 10 tween the links and the arms whereby the same will operate in unison when a pull is exerted on the lower end of the follower arm to operate the follower, and means for adjusting the connection between said second link 15 and said frame for leveling up the follower.

LANCE J. TOFFELMIER.

CHARLES MILLER. 

